West Ham debt hits huge total of £77m as Big Sam pins hopes of beating the drop on Italian new boys Borriello and Nocerino

The need for new signings Antonio Nocerino and Marco Borriello to hit the ground running at relegation threatened West Ham has been brought into sharp focus after the club revealed their net debt has risen to an eye-watering £77million.

Despite a significant improvement on the £24m loss incurred during West Ham's season in the second tier - with their promotion to the Barclays Premier League in 2012 helping to cut that figure to £3.5m - accounts for the year ending May 2013 revealed co-owners David Gold and David Sullivan had loaned the club a further £10.5m to try and secure Premier League survival.

The additional cash injection means Gold and Sullivan have now handed West Ham a total of £45.7m on top off £26.7m in bank loans plus a further £15m secured on broadcast income.

Italian job: West Ham manager Sam Allardyce shows off his two new signings

Loan star: Nocerino (right) was put through his paces in training after signing for the rest of the season

Given such financial pressure, it is
little wonder that manager Sam Allardyce is hoping he has rediscovered
his knack for signing season-saving foreign imports after finally
bolstering West Ham's squad with the capture of Nocerino from AC Milan
and Borriello from Roma until the end of the season.

Allardyce
famously persuaded former Monaco and Inter Milan star Youri Djorkaeff
to join him in Bolton's relegation fight while the capture of Gael Givet
helped rescue Blackburn from the drop. And after suffering a hugely
frustrating transfer window, the West Ham manager is banking on Nocerino
and Borriello having a similar galvanizing effect at Upton Park after
revealing he does not expect to do any more business this month.

He
said: 'I've had players like Youri Djorkaeff who saved me and Bolton
from being relegated that year. Gael Givet saved me when I was at
Blackburn after moving from Marseille and he hadn't played more than two
games for them that entire season.

'You
go on the quality of the CVs they have got and the quality of the
player they have been. They (Nocerino and Borriello) want to achieve
that type of quality here.'

Frontman
Borriello remains short of conditioning having not played for two
months. And while midfielder Nocerino is fit it remains to be seen
whether Allardyce will throw him straight in for Wednesday's trip to
Chelsea.

Although
Allardyce can expect no favours from Jose Mourinho's in-form title
chasers, he did reveal Michael Essien's move to AC Milan had opened the
door for Nocerino's switch to Upton Park.

'We
never thought at the start of the window that a player of Antonio's
quality would be available until the time the Essien transfer popped
up,' said Allardyce. 'He wants to achieve as much as he has achieved in
Italy. He wants to get in the Italy squad for the World Cup. Antonio is
your box-to-box midfield player and has the quality of finding space.
Playing at the top level in Italy brings a great deal of experience to
go with the talent he has got.

'As
for Marco, it is about getting him on the field and talking about
nothing else other than score goals. We need somebody in that box to be
productive, someone who only needs one or two chances (to score). He has
got a good track record of being a lively frontman who scores a few
goals, although recently that has not been the case due to a few niggly
injuries.'

Allardyce
has, however, received some good news on the injury front following Andy
Carroll's return to fitness, with defenders George McCartney and Joey
O'Brien both available for selection to face Chelsea.

Meanwhile,
defender Winston Reid has returned to training with the squad as he
steps up his recovery from nearly three months out with an ankle injury.

Allardyce
added: 'Only Joe Cole is injured. I can't remember a time over the past
three months when we have had just one injured player rather than seven
or eight. Let's hope it is an injury free 2014 which is obviously is
going to make a big difference for us with the fight ahead.'